"Kiyomasa no ido", a well in Meiji-jingu imperial garden

2015.04.21

There is a well called "Kiyomasa no ido" in Meiji-jingu imperial garden. It is a spring-fed well and rarely found in urban areas. Its water temperature is steady as 15 degree C throughout the year and 60 litters of water can be obtained per a minute.
This has traditionally called as "Kiyomasa no ido" and considered to be dug by Kato Kiyomasa (a military commander called as God of civil engineering and was an expert of castle construction and land reclamation).
For a long time, the water supply source and route had been totally unknown.

According to the one estimate, it was thought that there was a special system to let the water spring, impounding water for a while and then the water gush by itself.
Then the folk story was created that there was only Kiyomasa, called "the expert at civil engineering," who could make such a specialized well.

By the wellspring exploration in 1938, it had become clear that it is just a natural springwater, but it have been still unclear that the well was drilled by Kiyomasa by himself or not.
However there are many the other legend associated with Kiyomasa around the region, the story goes that there must be some deep connections with Kiyomasa.